[lin0003]

   
Not with this DAC. It's almost harshly bright on the HD800 unamped, but if I amp it through my stereo receiver (using the coaxial out to my receiver's coaxial in) it warms up significantly. Night and day really. I think this DAC must have a really crappy amp.

Maybe the "Phone Out" is really just a line out? 

 

[ag8908]

  Maybe the "Phone Out" is really just a line out? 

Maybe. Might be an impedance issue too, because it sounded much warmer with my low impedance Shure SE846.But on the HD800 it's unusually bright.

 

[lin0003]

These CS3498 DACs looks quite nice, but I have no idea about the engineering behind them...
 
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a230r.1.14.129.KqeITZ&id=26268652068
 
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.5.w4002-161437812.27.oF7xSy&id=21678412260

 

[ag8908]

I would just get it. This DAC has no clear engineering issues (e.g. there is no line hiss or anything else that would indicate a poorly engineered product).
 
I think it sounds better, more detailed, more refined, more dynamic, than my other DACs, but it's really hard to be sure because any modern DAC is good enough that you're not going to see a hugely noticeable improvement by upgrading. So I might be imagining an improvement.
 
But, I did find one objective test that proves this is a more capable DAC. If you do this test http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-iCZElJ8m0 on 720p, on the hd800, with my laptop's DAC I don't hear anything until like 29 hz. On my cell phone's DAC I hear something at like 26 hz. But on this new Chinese DAC, I hear bass vibration immediately at 21 hz.So that proves this new DAC is doing something those other DACs couldn't do for whatever reason.
 
I wish there was a test that could clearly identify a better DAC though.

 

[lin0003]

By playing the music you listen to you should be able to tell a truly good DAC like the DacMagic Plus from a cheap one. 

 

[ag8908]

  By playing the music you listen to you should be able to tell a truly good DAC like the DacMagic Plus from a cheap one. 

They all clearly have different sound signatures, i.e. one is brighter, one is more bassy, one has a boosted midrange, but I can't tell if one is better than the other, except for that test whereby this dac plays very low frequency notes that the others do not.

 

[lin0003]

You can judge the detail, separation, imaging, soundstage etc. 

 

[ag8908]

  You can judge the detail, separation, imaging, soundstage etc. 

I think all of those sound better, especially on classical music, but only very slightly, and that might simply be a consequence of its brightness (e.g. brightness increases detail from what I understand). If you buy one of these chinese dacs tell us how they compare to a high end dac.

 

[ag8908]

Deep bass is really this DAC's forte. It can easily produce 20hz, and I'm picking up deep bass detail in songs that I never noticed before. It's a little fatiguing though. I never knew the HD800 could produce that much bass.

 

[elmoe]

  Deep bass is really this DAC's forte. It can easily produce 20hz, and I'm picking up deep bass detail in songs that I never noticed before. It's a little fatiguing though. I never knew the HD800 could produce that much bass.

 
I'm not trying to antagonize you here, but really, take those headphones to a meet or a decent audio shop and give them a listen through a good system. It won't cost you anything and I'm pretty sure you'll be surprised.

 

[ag8908]

   
I'm not trying to antagonize you here, but really, take those headphones to a meet or a decent audio shop and give them a listen through a good system. It won't cost you anything and I'm pretty sure you'll be surprised.

 
I have a good system, a high end PCM5102 DAC that produces excellent bass even at 20hz, a powerful amp and an HD800. Stop criticizing something you've never even heard.

 

[elmoe]

   
I have a good system, a high end PCM5102 DAC that produces excellent bass even at 20hz, a powerful amp and an HD800. Stop criticizing something you've never even heard.

 
Once again, I am not criticizing, only suggesting that you go and try something others consider to be MUCH better than what you have, even if you do not agree. Like I said, it won't cost you anything.
 
As a side note, your DAC is not "high end". It is a cheap chinese DAC/headphone amp combo of questionable design, of which you're not even sure that the parts are legitimate.

 

[ag8908]

   
Once again, I am not criticizing, only suggesting that you go and try something others consider to be MUCH better than what you have, even if you do not agree. Like I said, it won't cost you anything.

 
you've never heard this DAC, which I have discovered is outstanding, or my amplifier, or the HD800, and these imaginary people you reference don't exist. please stop your lame attempts at trolling.

 

[elmoe]

   
you've never heard this DAC, which I have discovered is outstanding, or my amplifier, or the HD800, and these imaginary people you reference don't exist. please stop your lame attempts at trolling.

 
I've heard a PCM5102 DAC before, and I've heard the HD800s plenty, on a wide variety of systems (expensive ones at that, and they sounded quite good, though as I've said, I found them too expensive for the money). As for your amplifier, I used to own a Yamaha receiver, but I'll give you that one, as it might not have been the same one you have.
 
The imaginary people I reference to are pretty much every single HD800 owners on Head-Fi who own higher end gear than you do. If they spent big bucks on DAC/Amps for their HD800s, chances are they would disagree that your cheap chinese DAC + Yamaha receiver combo would achieve the level of sound quality they get. Feel free to PM any of them at random and ask them directly, I like my chances.
 
Once again, I'm not trying to troll you. Go out and try it. Even IF I was trolling you, what have you got to lose? And what have I to gain?
 
On a sidenote it's interesting that you suddenly find this DAC to be outstanding whereas earlier you could "barely hear a difference compared to the realtek DAC chip of your laptop".

 

[lin0003]

It's not trolling, he's just trying to help you...